"Internet Corner" Articles
Augmented Reality (SGA Newsletter, Volume 41, Issue 3, Fall 2009)
Augmented reality, long a staple in movies and television, is becoming more sophisticated. Even just 10 years ago, the equipment was bulky and not very user-friendly. Now, using your telephone, you can virtually enhance your surroundings, providing computer generated imagery to provide metadata in real time. Applications available today include those for the real estate market, providing sales and realtor information overlaid on the screen, and an iPhone 3GS application for New York, Tokyo, Paris, and London, that shows the underground transit system and the closest train stations, depending on where you direct your camera. There are multiple YouTube videos showing this remarkable technology in many iterations, even AR business cards. Other applications include advertising, travel guides (point of interest sites), navigation devices, geologic mapping, and assistance with complex tasks such as assembly, maintenance, and surgery.
Applications for the archives community could be endless. Can you imagine walking through the stacks with your telephone, searching for a particular fact in your database, and a line pops up on your screen, showing you where to walk with an arrow pointing to the box that contains that information? Think about viewing a document with your webcam, and pictures of the people involved coming to “life” in 3D, discussing the background of the information contained in the document?
Locally, Georgia Tech houses the Augmented Environments Laboratory, which uses AR at Oakland Cemetery for the Voices of Oakland Project. The Voices of Oakland uses Augmented Reality (AR) technology to introduce visitors to the history and architecture of Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta's oldest cemetery. Wearing headphones and carrying a portable computer and tracking devices, the visitors walk among the graves and listen to the voices of various historical figures. The visitors can tailor the experience to suit their interests through a hand-held interface. The Voices of Oakland is a prototype created using DART (the Designer’s Augmented Reality Toolkit). DART was conceived and implemented in the GVU Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, with audio production assistance from the Digital Arts Entertainment Lab (DAEL) at Georgia State University.
Camaal Moten, a recent M.S. graduate of Full Sail University, created a history module called “Georgia History Scene Investigation,” detailing the 1906 Atlanta Race Riots. He worked with Dr. Clifford Kuhn of Georgia State University as well as Morris Gardner and Wesley Chenault of the Auburn Avenue Research library in order to gather primary source material. The website module uses AR markers to show embedded video, audio, and copies of documents on screen. Not only does this bring “history to life” for a younger audience, but the module also actively engages the students in critical thinking and analysis. More information about the project can be found on his website.
To keep up with this field, you may wish to bookmark the website of the International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality which includes the syllabi from the symposiums from 2002 to 2009. In addition, there is an AR Wiki and an AR Blog available.
Examples
- AR GIS Maps
- GE's AR Demo
- Business Card
- USPS Priority Mail Virtual Box Simulator
- Real Estate Application
- Historical Applications
- Point of Interest Application